Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Tall Men Can't Share

Apparently there's a fixed amount of good karma collectively allocated to left-handed 6'9"+ pitchers - and Mark Hendrickson and Randy Johnson are fighting over it. Consider: during the first month of the season, Hendrickson pitched like Sandy Koufax while Johnson pitched like Sandy Duncan. Then, on or around Cinco de Mayo, Unit seemed to snatch the Tall Pitcher Karma away from Hendrickson, probably while Hendrickson was having a Jose Cuervo-induced daydream about his 2014 Hall of Fame induction. Suddenly Lurch couldn't get anybody out while Unit looked like his late-90's self.

Yeah, I also thought it was a ridiculous theory when Sheffield first mentioned it to me, but then I looked at the numbers:

Lurch
6'9", 240 lbs
until
May 5
after
May 5
IP 27.2 26.1
W-L 2-0 0-3
ERA 1.30 7.18
K/9 7.8 5.1
Big Unit
6'10", 231 lbs
until
May 5
after
May 5
IP 18 23.2
W-L 0-2 2-0
ERA 6.50 1.90
K/9 9.5 12.9

Still not a believer? Watch Johnson's start today vs SF. If he pitches well, expect continued Lurch meltdowns. If he gets shelled, then look for Lurch to rebound. This I guarantee...or my name isn't Eric Karros.

3 comments:

Alex Cora said...

Actually, they are the SAME PERSON, just that he is always tired for his "second start" for the other team. Notice how they are never seen in the same room together?

Steve Sax said...

"or my name isn't Eric Karros". Love it.

Eric Karros said...

Unfortunately Unit had a strong outing - 6IP, 2ER, 8Ks. Expect more poor outings from Hendrickson.